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In Ethiopia, the dairy cows' major feed resources are natural pasture and crop residues, both of which are nutritionally low and do not even satisfy the maintenance requirement. Consequently, dairy productivity per head is low in the country. This paper reviews the existing knowledge of negative energy balance (NEB) and summarizes its implication on production and reproduction parameters, as well as the monitoring tools as a means of intervention in minimizing the effect on dairy cows. The presence of NEB in late gestation and early lactation of dairy cows could contribute to both short and long-term negative effects on production and reproduction ability. Lower body condition, reduced milk production, a change in the milk fat to protein ratio, an increasing incidence of health problems, a late time to become estrus, delayed ovarian cycle, and a lower conception rate are the common implications. Through the knowledge created so far, it can be concluded that NEB is almost a common phenomenon in transitional high milking dairy animals, but there is a possibility to shorten its persistence through strategic supplementation using the NEB monitoring tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Ethiopia, locally available feed resources are commendable in livestock production to make the sector sustainable and productive. Objectives: This on‐farm evaluation was conducted to evaluate the effect of urea‐molasses‐treated highland bamboo (Yushania alpina) leaves (UMTHBL) in lactating crossbred dairy cows' nutrient utilization, body performance, milk yield and quality and economic performance. Methods: On‐farm feeding trial was conducted using 12 lactating cows with initial body weight (328.08 ± 0.98 kg), initial milk yield (3.14 ± 0.78 L) of uniform parity (2) and stage of lactation (early) using a Randomized Complete Block Design. Three dietary treatments, namely, 6 h grazing (control) + concentrate (T1), control + UMTHBL ad lib (T2), control + untreated BL adlib (T3) with three replications were used. Analysis of variance was employed for the feeding trial data analysis. Results: The UMTHBL increased more dry matter and nutrients intake than untreated. A significant difference (p < 0.05) was recorded between UMTHBL feeding (T2) and T1 and T3 in terms of increased milk yield. The highest (6.26 L) and the lowest (3.27 L) mean milk yield per day were recorded for cows fed UMTHBL and the control group, respectively. Urea‐molasses treatment improved the crude protein (CP) and reduced fibres content than untreated. Treatment effects were not‐significant (p > 0.05) for milk compositions. Similar to milk yield, dairy cows in T2 consumed more CP which is also reflected in higher body weight and economic benefit. Conclusion: It can be concluded that employing treatment technology for highland bamboo leaves could support the crossbred dairy cows' production in smallholder farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Models have been presented to evaluate the link between dairy farm production factors and their degree of association with production determinants. Studies have found causal relationships between production parameters (dairy farm facility, farm hygiene and waste management, feed and nutrition, reproduction performance, health and extension services, mode of transportation, education level and gross revenue) as well as farm efficiency parameters. Furthermore, structural equation modelling (SEM) allows for the estimation of parameters that are not directly quantifiable, known as latent variables. Objective: The research was designed to identify the dairy management determinants and evaluate farm production performance using an SEM approach in the selected areas of the Amhara region, Ethiopia. Methodology: In‐person survey using a semi‐structured pre‐tested questionnaire was employed in 2021 to collect primary data on 117 randomly selected commercial dairy producers keeping cross‐breed Holstein Frisian cows in the Amhara region. SEM was used to study the complexity of influences on efficiency measures in milk production utilizing the combined data. Results: The model result revealed that the relationship between construct reliabilities and farm facilities was significantly varied (p < 0.01). The model analysis showed that the level of education has also a positive and statistically significant correlation with the reproduction performance of the dairy farms, (ρ = 0.337) and the gross revenue of the farm showed as (p = 0.849). Farm gross revenue articulated a positive, strong statistically significant association with feed and nutrition values (ρ = 0.906), dairy farm facilities (ρ = 0.934), and hygiene and waste management (ρ = 0.921). Consequently, the predictors of dairy farm facility's feed and nutrition and hygiene and waste management explained 93.40%, 84.0%, 80.20%, and 88.50% of the variance. Conclusion: The proposed model was scientifically valid, and training and education have an effect on management practices, subsequently affecting the production performance of the dairy farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Protein feed resources for ruminant animal productions are deficit in Ethiopia. Objectives: To evaluate the supplementation effects of dried Dodonaea angustifolia leaves (DDL), dried traditional brewery by‐product locally called atella and their mixtures on nutrient utilization and growth performance of Farta sheep fed natural pasture hay (NPH) as basal diet. Methods: Twenty‐five yearling intact male Farta sheep with average initial body weight of 14.53 ± 1.35 kg (mean ± SD) were used for the study. The experimental sheep were allocated into five blocks of five animals based on their initial body weight. The experiment lasted for 90 days of feeding trial followed by 7 days of digestibility trial. The experimental feeds were NPH ad libitum + 100% DDL + 100 g wheat bran (WB; T1), NPH ad libitum + 75% DDL + 25% dried atella + 100 g WB(T2), NPH ad libitum + 50% DDL + 50% deried atella + 100 g WB (T3), NPH ad libitum + 25% DDL +75% dried atella +100 g WB (T4) and NPH ad libitum + 100% dried atella + 100 g WB (T5). Results: NPH, DDL and dried atella contained 7.42, 15.39, 21.13% crude protein (CP) and 66, 36, 34% neutral detergent fiber, respectively. Sheep supplemented with increasing level of atella had more dry matter intake (DMI) and crude protein intake (CPI) and the highest of these DMI and CPI were in T5 (868 g/d for dry matter and 113 g/d for CP). This progressive increased CPI from T1 up to T5 was reflected in a significant (p < 0.001) fibers and estimated metabolizable energy intake in the order of T5 > T4 > T3 > T2 > T1. Significant difference (p < 0.001) was recorded on nutrient utilization and the highest was for T5 and lowest for T1. Average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion efficiency (FCE) were significantly (p < 0.001) increased as the atella inclusion level increased. Sheep in T4 and T5 had the highest ADG and FCE with the order of T5 = T4 > T3 > T2 > T1. ADG was correlated positively and highly significant with nutrients intake and digestibility. Conclusion: Atella supplementation better than DDL and then their mixture (T2–T4) supplementation could be recommended in sheep fattening in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural pasture in Ethiopia is typically low in forage botanical composition, biomass yield nutritive value because of overgrazing and lack of alternative improved forage plants. The field experiment was conducted to determine the effects of plant spacing and harvesting age on agronomic performance and chemical composition of Para grass (Brachiaria mutica) at Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. The experiment was a 3x3 factorial layout in a RCBD with three replications giving a total of 27 plots. The between plant spacing were 15, 30 and 45 cm and the harvesting ages were 60, 90 and 120 days. The data collected were morphological characteristics such as plant height(PH), number of tillers per plant (NTPP), leaf length per plant (LLPP), number of roots per plant (NRPP), root length per plant (RLPP), leaf to stem ratio (LSR), number of leaves per plant (NLPP), dry matter yield (DMY) and chemical composition of the forage. Forage samples were taken for chemical composition analyses. All data were subjected to GLM ANOVA procedures of SAS version 9.0. Results showed that the interaction between plant spacing and harvesting age had a significant (p<0.05) effect on plant characteristics, DMY and chemical composition of Para grass except CP yield (p>0.05). Plant characteristics were significantly (p<0.05) increased as the plant spacing and age of harvesting raised and PH, OM and ADF were increased as maturity of the plant at all plant spacing. DMY and DM content were significantly (p<0.05) increased with narrow plant spacing and advanced maturity. Therefore it could be concluded that both harvesting age and between plant spacing are critical in the forage production parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment was conducted using twenty four Gumuz ram lambs with an initial body weight of 19.05±2.29 kg (mean±SD) to investigate the response to supplementations on feed intake, body weigh change and carcass characteristics of Gumuz sheep. The sheep were treated against endo- and ecto- parasites before commencing the study. The experimental design was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with six replications. The treatments were: natural pasture hay alone (T1), natural pasture hay+ 1noug seed cake (NSC):1 wheat bran (WB) (T2), natural pasture hay + 2NSC: 1WB (T3) and natural pasture hay + 3NSC:1WB (T4). The supplements were offered at the rate of 400 g/day, which were offered twice per day at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m hours in equal portions. The feeding trial was carried out for 90 days after 15 days of adaptation period to the experimental feeds and conditions, which were then followed by carcass evaluation at the end of the study. Supplemented treatments had higher (P<0. 01) total DMI (712.53-724.92 g/d) than the control (672.55 g/d). Supplemented sheep gained BW within the range of 44.26-86.67g/sheep/day with significantly higher (p<0.001) differences among the supplemented groups. Better (p<0.001) FCE was observed in the supplemented treatments than the control, but no significant differences (p>0.001) were recorded among the supplemented treatments. Sheep fed natural pasture hay alone had the lowest net return (-114.46 ETB) and had lowest (p<0.001) values for carcass parameters than the supplemented treatments. The possible reason might be because of the relatively less body condition which could not attract prime price in the market. The highest (p<0.01) dressing percentage (44.22%) as a proportion of slaughter weight was recorded in T4. Supplemented treatments had rib-eye muscle area in a range of 6.37-10.12 cm² and the lowest rib-eye muscle area (4.71cm²) was recorded in the control treatment. Sheep supplemented with 3NSC:1WB (T4) had the highest net return (287.78 ETB and highest MRR (4.96) compared to the other supplemented treatments. Thus, it is recommended that supplementation of hay with 400 g/head/day concentrate mixture at 3NSC:1WB proportion is biologically efficient and potentially profitable in the feeding of growing Gumuz sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of fertilizer types and plant spacings on plant morphology, biomass yield and chemical composition of brachiaria hybrid mulato II grass grown using irrigation in lowlands of northwest Ethiopia. The experimental design used was a 3×3 factorial layout in a randomized complete block design with three replications which had a total of 27 plots, each measuring 2×2 m2. The plant spacings were 15, 30 and 45cm between plants and fertilizer types were commercial fertilizer (NPS), cattle manure and control (without fertilizer). Morphological parameters such as plant height (PH), leaf length per plant (LLPP), number of leaves per plant (NLPP), number of tillers per plant (NTPP), leaf to stem ratio (LSR), number of roots per plant (NRPP),root length per plant (RLPP), root circumference(RC), leaf area index (LAI), biomass yield and chemical composition were collected. All the data were subjected to GLM ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) following the procedures of SAS (Statistical Analysis System). The result showed that most of the morphological parameters were significantly (P<0.05) affected by fertilizer and plant spacings. Similarly, significant (P<0.05) differences were observed in most of chemical composition of the grass by fertilizer type; but not by plant spacing except for DM (Dry matter) and CP (Crude protein). In the current study it can be concluded that fertilizer types had significant contribution on the brachiaria grass morphology and chemical composition grown in the lowland area of Ethiopia. The commercial fertilizer (NPS) fertilizer is recommendable for brachiaria hybrid grass production if it is accessible by smallholder farmers; otherwise, the use of manure could be the next option in the study area and in similar environments. Regarding plant spacing, for better biomass production intermediate plant spacing (30 cm x 50 cm) is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of neem, girawa leaves meal, and garlic for layer hens on performances and egg quality parameters. A total of 128 bovans brown layer hens with uniform body weight (BW) were randomly distributed to 4 treatments, each with 4 replications in a completely randomized design (CRD). The treatments consisted of a commercial diet without additives (T1), and the remaining groups received commercial diet with neem leaf meal (T2), girawa leaf meal (T3), and garlic powder (T4) at 2.5% level of inclusion. Performance parameters such as hen-day egg production, egg weight, feed intake, and internal and external egg qualities were evaluated for the laying hens. The results showed that the highest feed intake was reported in T2 (117.77 g/hen) and T4 (117.12 g/hen), while the lowest was reported in T3 (108.20 g/hen) compared to T1 (110.51 g/hen). Neem had the highest (P < 0.05) hen-day egg production (92.45%), followed by garlic (89.78%), and the least hen-day egg production was recorded in girawa (83.86%) compared to control (87.4%). The egg mass was highest for T2, while T1 and T3 had the lowest. No significant difference was observed in egg weight, shell thickness, shell weight, albumin height, albumin weight, yolk weight, yolk height, and yolk diameter. However, egg length and yolk color were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in T2. Therefore, it was concluded that neem leaf meal can be recommended in this study, and it has a good phytogenic feed additive for layer performance and egg qualities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was conducted to determine the effects of fertilizer types on plant characteristics, forage yield, seed yield and chemical composition of Rhodes grass at Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. The experiment was laid in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). The treatments were: no fertilizer (T1), Bio-slurry compost (T2), NPS fertilizer (T3) and mixture of bio-slurry and NPS (T4) with four replications. Data collected were morphological characteristics such as plant height (PH), number of tillers per plant (NTPP), leaf length per plant (LLPP), leaf to stem ratio (LSR), number of leaves per plant (NLPP), forage dry matter yield and forage qualities harvested at 90 days (50% of blooming stage) except seed yield at three weeks after full flowering stage. Samples of forages were weighed, dried and then ground subsamples taken for analyses of crude protein (CP), ash, dry matter (DM), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL). All data were subjected to two way ANOVA procedures of SAS version 9.0. The results showed that the effects of organic and inorganic fertilizer had a significant (p<0.01) effect on all of morphological characteristics were better result with mixing of NPS and bioslurry fertilizer application than other treatments, but a lone of bioslurry and NPS fertilizers also almost similar result but less than in some extent from combined fertilizer treatment. Combining chemical fertilizers with bioslurry gave the highest DM yield (12.63 t/ha) of forage than sole bioslurry (11.8 t/ha) and sole chemical fertilizer (12.03 t/ha). Combined chemical fertilizers with bioslurry gave the highest CP contents (11.25%) of forage than other treatments. In contrast control plot obtained lowest result in all morphological parameters. DMY, seed yield and lowest nutritive value with higher fiber contents. Therefore, the application of combination of bio-slurry and inorganic fertilizer shown the best result in terms of morphological, nutritive value, forage dry matter and seed yield followed by either of fertilizers. Hence, based on the current result, it can be concluded that use of combination of organic and inorganic fertilizer is the best fertilizer as far as Rhodes grass production is concerned in the current study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of tree lucerne dried leaves (TLDL) as a substituting supplement for noug seed cake, and wheat bran concentrate mixtures (CM) on feed intake, digestibility, growth, carcass characteristics and economic benefits using Washera sheep fed desho grass hay as a basal diet. Methods: Twenty‐five male Washera sheep with an initial body weight of 16 ± 4.01 kg (mean ± SD) were used for both growth and digestibility trials which lasted for 90 and 10 days, respectively The experiment was conducted using a randomized complete block design having five blocks with five treatments (T1 = 0% TLDL + 100% CM; T2 = 25% TLDL + 75% CM; T3 = 50% TLDL + 50% CM; T4 = 75% TLDL + 25% CM and T5 = 100% TLDL + 0% CM). Results: Significant (p <.05) differences were observed among treatments in total dry matter (DM), nutrients and metabolizable energy (ME) intake; as the level of TLDL increases total DM and nutrient intake decreased (p <.05) except neutral detergent fibre intake (NDFI) and acid detergent fibre intake (ADFI). Digestibility of DM, organic matter (OM) and crude protein (CP) were significantly reduced (p <.001) among the treatments increasing the substitution level of TLDL for local concentrate mixture, but non‐significant for fibre fractions digestibility. Similarly, body weight, average daily gain and feed conversion efficiency were significantly different (p <.01) and highest in T1 than other treatments, whereas lowest values of the same parameters were observed for T5. Non‐significant difference among treatments was observed in almost all of the carcass characteristics except for rib‐eye area that showed significant difference among treatment and was highest in T1 and T2 (low level of TLDL inclusion). The economic analysis showed that supplementation TLDL was economically feasible in which the net return of the treatments were 31.66 (T1), 30.68 (T2) and 30.34 (T3), 27.88 (T4) and 26.32 (T5) USD (United States Dollar). Conclusions: It was concluded that TLDL could be used as alternative feed source by replacing concentrate mixture up to 75% (T4) which enhanced nutrient intake, digestibility and growth performance of Washera sheep. Finally, TLDL supplementation is recommended as replacement of CM up to 75% for its biological and economic feasibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was carried out to evaluate the supplementary effect of Faba bean hull (FBH), noug seed cake (NSC), wheat bran (WB) and their mixtures on biological performance and economic benefits of s in Farta sheep fed grass hay as basal diet. The treatments were grass hay (GH) ad libitum+200g NSC+100 g WB (T1); GH ad libitum +200g NSC+75 g WB+25g FBH (T2); GH ad libitum+200g NSC+50g WB+50g FBH (T3); GH ad libitum+200g NSC+25 g WB+75g FBH (T4) and GH ad libitum+200g NSC+100g FBH (T5). The feeding and digestibility trials were conducted for ninety and seven days, respectively. Data on composition of feeds and feces, dry matter (DM) and nutrient intake, DM and nutrients digestibility, BW changes and feed conversion efficiency (FCE) were collected. The basal DM intakes were 393.32, 393.85, 394.95, 396.04 and 396.98 g/day for T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5, respectively, which were not significant (P >0.05) among treatments. Total intake of DM, organic matter (OM) and CP were not significantly different among treatments (P>0.05). The CP and DM intake of experimental sheep were in the order of T10.05). The partial budget analysis showed that sheep offered with relatively the highest level of CP (T4) and (T5) returned a higher net income (296.05 and 304.35ETB/head), respectively. The current experiment reveals that FBH could be an alternative supplement which may substitute WB in the diets of sheep in the highlands of Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of fertilizer type and oat accessions on agronomic performance, forage yield and chemical composition under acidic soil condition in Ethiopia. This study employed randomized complete block design (RCBD) using 3 by 3 factorial with three replications. The forage oat accessions used in the study were: CI8251, CI8237 and Jassari and the three fertilizer types used were inorganic (NPK), organic (compost) and without fertilizer. The data collected from the study includes: plant morphological parameters such as plant height (PH), leaf length (LL), number of leaves per plant (LNPP), number of tillers per plant (NTPP), forage dry matter (DM) yield and chemical composition of the forage. The collected data were analyzed with general linear model (GLM) of statistical analysis system (SAS) version 9.4. The result indicated most of the morphological parameters were not significantly affected by the effects of fertilizer type while oat accession had also effect on these factors. Regarding fertilizer application, there was significant different (p<0.0001) among fertilizer types in all morphological parameters. Among chemical composition parameters dry matter (DM), DM yield, organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), CP yield, ASH, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) were significantly different (p<0.0001), for both fertilizer and oat accessions. The highest CP content was observed for the treatments received chemical fertilizer (NPK) which was 11%. It can be concluded, that the addition of inorganic and organic fertilizer with the grass species in the present study improved oat accession morphological characteristics which could be a reflection of biomass yield and also the nutritional value of oat grass in this experiment. Of the oat accessions assessed, CI825 was selected in terms of DM yield and CP contents followed by plant CI8237 and Jassari in the current study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was conducted to evaluate nutrient intake, digestibility and growth performance of Washera lambs fed natural pasture hay-based diet supplemented with graded levels of sweet blue lupin ( Lupinus angustifolius L.) seed. Twenty male intact Washera lambs with average age of four months and initial body weight of 16.9 ± 0.32 kg (mean ± SD) were used in 90 days feeding trial followed by 10 days digestibility trial. The design of the experiment was randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five replications. The four supplement feeds were;150 g wheat bran (WB) (control- T 1 ), 150 g WB + 195 g sweet lupin seed (SLS) ( T 2 ), 150 g WB + 245 g SLS ( T 3 ) and 150 g WB and 295 g SLS ( T 4 ). Natural pasture hay was offered ad libitum . Digestibility trial was conducted at the end of the growth trial. Data were analyzed using the General Linear Model (GLM) procedures of SAS (version 9.2). Means were separated using Duncan's Multiple Range test. Correlation between nutrient intake, digestibility of nutrients and weight gain were analyzed using Pearson correlation procedure. Results showed that supplementation of SLS significantly increased total dry matter, crude protein and organic matter intakes. Supplementation of SLS improved the digestibility of dry matter and organic matter ( P < 0.05) and crude protein ( P < 0.001). However, the digestibility of NDF and ADF were not affected by supplementation ( P > 0.05). Average daily gain (ADG) was higher ( P < 0.001) for the SLS supplemented groups (61.8–89.1 g/day). It was concluded that sweet blue lupin seed could serve as alternative CP supplement in natural pasture hay-based feeding of Washera sheep. Based on the biological performance of the experimental lambs (ADG and FCE values), T 3 could be recommended for practical feeding of lambs if optimum performance is targeted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In tropical regions, it is common practice to feed dairy cows poor-quality roughage, but this diet has been shown to decrease animal productivity and increase methane emissions. For these reasons, introducing alternative roughage feeds, such as nutritionally improved forages or bio-chemically treated straw, is essential for improving milk yield, dietary nitrogen utilization, and reducing enteric methane emission from dairy cows. Thus, we evaluated the effects of natural pasture hay, two improved grass hays (Napier and Brachiaria hybrid grasses), and treated teff straw silage feeding as basal diets on nutrient digestibility, milk yield, nitrogen utilization efficiency, and enteric methane emissions using lactating Fogera dairy cows. Our results showed that improved grass hays and treated teff straw silage diet feeding increased milk yield, nutrient digestibility, and nitrogen utilization efficiency as compared to natural pasture hay. Moreover, the cows fed with improved grass hays and treated teff straw resulted in changing the nitrogen excretion pathway from urine to feces, as well as reduction of the methane production per daily milk yield. Hence, these results provide a novel feeding regimen through feeding nutritionally upgraded forages as a basal diet, which improves milk yield, nutrient utilization efficiency, and reduction of methane emission for sustainable dairy production in tropical regions. The nutritionally imbalanced poor-quality diet feeding is the major constraint of dairy production in tropical regions. Hence, alternative high-quality roughage-based diets are required to improve milk yield and reduce methane emission (CH4). Thus, we tested the effects of feeding natural pasture hay, improved forage grass hays (Napier and Brachiaria Hybrid), and treated crop residues (Eragrostis tef straw) on nutrient digestibility, milk yield, nitrogen balance, and methane emission. The eight lactating Fogera cows selected for the experiment were assigned randomly to a 4 × 4 Latin square design. Cows were housed in well-ventilated individual pens and fed a total mixed ration (TMR) comprising 70% roughage and 30% concentrate. The four roughage-based basal dietary treatments supplemented with formulated concentrate were: Control (natural pasture hay (NPH)); treated teff straw silage (TTS); Napier grass hay (NGH); and Brachiaria hybrid grass hay (BhH). Compared with the control diet, the daily milk yield increased (p < 0.01) by 31.9%, 52.9%, and 71.6% with TTS, NGH, and BhH diets, respectively. Cows fed BhH had the highest dry matter intake (8.84 kg/d), followed by NGH (8.10 kg/d) and TTS (7.71 kg/d); all of these intakes were greater (p = 0.01) than that of NPH (6.21 kg/d). Nitrogen digestibility increased (p < 0.01) from the NPH diet to TTS (by 27.7%), NGH (21.7%), and BhH (39.5%). The concentration of ruminal ammonia nitrogen was higher for cows fed NGH than other diets (p = 0.01) and positively correlated with plasma urea nitrogen concentration (R² = 0.45). Feeding TTS, NGH, and BhH hay as a basal diet changed the nitrogen excretion pathway from urine to feces, which can help protect against environmental pollution. Estimated methane yields per dry matter intake and milk yield were decreased in dairy cows fed BhH, NGH, and TTS diets when compared to cows fed an NPH diet (p < 0.05). In conclusion, feeding of TTS, NGH, and BhH roughages as a basal diet to lactating dairy cows in tropical regions improved nutrient intake and digestibility, milk yield, nitrogen utilization efficiency, and reduced enteric methane emission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]